Heroin use linked to hepatitis C increase

2:14 AM,
Nov. 18, 2012

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The growing use of heroin in central Wisconsin is contributing to an increase in hepatitis C virus cases seen at local hospitals. Since the state began tracking the number of reported cases in 2000, the number has more than doubled for Marathon, Portage and Wood counties.

Hepatitis C is a virus for which there is no cure or preventive vaccine, said Sarah Hess, a Marshfield Clinic Internal Medicine Pediatrics Resident who has studied Hepatitis C infections among people younger than 30.

In 2000, the total for the three counties as well as Langlade, Oneida and Lincoln counties was 24 cases, Hess ...